The release date for the Saoirse Ronan-starring biopic Mary Queen of Scots has been moved back in the US to give the historical drama a better chance in the build-up to next year's Academy Awards.
The film was originally scheduled to be released in the US on November 2 but will now reach cinemas on December 7.
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS has begun filming today, directed by @josierourke and starring #SaoirseRonan and @MargotRobbie #MQOS pic.twitter.com/axyr21ccI3
— Working Title (@Working_Title) August 14, 2017
US entertainment industry website Deadline describes the first weekend in December as "a prime launchpad for awards season fare".
This year's Best Picture Oscar winner, The Shape of Water, was released in the US on the first weekend of December 2017.
Mary Queen of Scots follows the power struggle between Ronan's titular character and her cousin, Britain's Queen Elizabeth I, who is played by Margot Robbie.
The film marks the feature directing debut of theatre director Josie Rourke, with House of Cards writer Beau Willimon adapting John Guy's biography My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots.
So proud of these generous, brilliant women. I had the time of my life working with them last year. That includes you Eileen O’Higgins, I see you there in the back! pic.twitter.com/6uOolymg8Y
— Josie Rourke (@josierourke) January 8, 2018
Mary Queen of Scots is due for release in Irish cinemas on Friday January 18, 2019.
Three-time Oscar nominee Ronan will next be seen on screens in the romantic drama On Chesil Beach, which opens on Friday May 25.
Based on Ian McEwan's Booker-shortlisted novel, On Chesil Beach tells the story of Florence (Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle), a couple who spend their honeymoon in a small hotel on the Dorset seashore, Chesil Beach, in 1962.
Ronan received her first Oscar nomination in 2008 for her performance in Atonement, another adaptation of a McEwan book.
